According to the book, the sorcerer can learn an unusual spell from a scroll if the spell is Arcane. A Bard can use Arcane spells, and the "Cure Light Wounds" is available on his magic table.

So if I am a sorcerer and found a "Cure Light Wounds" scroll, would I be able to learn it as an unusual spell?

My question is because on page 64(Players book) there is this situation:

For example, a sorcerer with a scroll or spellbook detailing an
unusual sorcerer/wizard spell (one not on the sorcerer/wizard spell
list in this book) could select that spell as one of his new spells for
attaining a new level, provided that it is of the right spell level. The
sorcerer can’t use this method of spell acquisition to learn spells at a
faster rate, however

6 Answers
6

Only If Sources Beyond the Player's Handbook Are Used

Omitted from the online sorcerer description is the following from the Player's Handbook:

[The sorcerer's] new spells can be common spells chosen from the sorcerer/wizard spell list (page 192), or they can be unusual spells that the sorcerer has gained some understanding of by study. For example, a sorcerer with a scroll or spellbook detailing an unusual sorcerer/wizard spell (one not on the sorcerer/wizard spell list in this book) could select that spell as one of his new spells for attaining a new level, provided that it is of the right spell level. (54)

Emphasis mine. Using a very hard reading of the rules as written, if the DM determines the sorcerer can gain "some understanding of [the spell cure light wounds [conj] (PH 215-6)] by study" from the scroll and the spell cure light wounds appears on the Sor/Wiz spell list in another source other than the PH, the sorcerer can add it to his spells known.

As the above is largely campaign-dependent, it needn't be a scroll. The DM determines what exactly the sorcerer can study to gain this understanding (e.g. ancient dragon scales possessing the secrets of weird magic, the corpses of magical minions, the drippings of sacred candles).

I am, however, unfamiliar with a published setting or source that adds cure spells specifically and directly to the Sor/Wiz spell list.

However, another source can totally be the DM's campaign notes. Thus, in a campaign that amends the Sor/Wiz spell list, the sorcerer could, upon understanding the spell via study, select that spell as a new spell when he reaches the next level if the spell's on the Sor/Wiz list at the appropriate level.

The DM should look askance at a player who claims his authorship of another source on a cocktail napkin amends his character's spell list, unless the source is accompanied by an appropriate bribe.

@Jason_c_o The spell cure light wounds is on the spell list of the standard PH bard, and guardian and spirit nagas (MM 192-3) and some dragons can cast clerical spells as arcane spells.
–
Hey I Can ChanMar 21 '14 at 1:06

To have any chance of activating a scroll spell, the scroll user must
meet the following requirements.

The spell must be of the correct type (arcane or divine). Arcane spellcasters (wizards, sorcerers, and bards) can only use scrolls
containing arcane spells, and divine spellcasters (clerics, druids,
paladins, and rangers) can only use scrolls containing divine spells.
(The type of scroll a character creates is also determined by his or
her class.)

The user must have the spell on his or her class list.

The user must have the requisite ability score.

So the answer is no, since the Sorcerer does not have that spell on his class spell list.

The sorcerer can learn spells on his class spell list through expensive magical research if he wants to learn more spells than those he has taken due to level ups, but can never learn spells not on his class spell list.

For example, a sorcerer with a scroll or spellbook detailing an unusual sorcerer/wizard spell (one not on the sorcerer/wizard spell list in this book) could select that spell as one of his new spells for attaining a new level, provided that it is of the right spell level. The sorcerer can’t use this method of spell acquisition to learn spells at a faster rate, however
–
TiagoBrenckFeb 27 '14 at 15:02

1

In D&D Magic/Spells are more like a Class-specific module, as opposed to a separate concept. Cure light Wounds is simply not a Sorcerer ability.
–
Inbar RoseFeb 27 '14 at 15:21

Not normally, because it is not on the Sorcerer/Wizard class list. Bards do indeed cast the spell as arcane, but that's not enough: spells are also broken down by class, not just by type.

If the sorcerer can somehow add the spell to his class list, that changes things. There are a few effects that could be used to do this, like the Wyrm Wizard prestige class from Dragon Magic. But these effects also tend to teach you the spell, which renders the point moot: the sorcerer still can't learn the spell from the scroll, because he already knows it.

There is a workaround wherein, if the Wyrm Wizard prestige class is available, the player could seek one out who knew Cure Light Wounds. A Wyrm Wizard gets to add a new spell from any class's spell list to their own spell list at each new level, so in theory there may be one out there who knows Cure Light Wounds.

I tend to just allow Sorcerors to freely choose Cure Light Wounds to help differentiate them from Wizards. The Sorceror is already limited in her spell choices so it makes much less of an impact save someone who did not want to play a cleric, got to play what they wanted instead at those early levels.

I've always taken as any spell outside the players handbook.
The sorcerer has the distinct advantage of not having to prepare their spells ahead of time; giving them the maximum flexibility of casting what ever spell is needed at the time. Compared to wizards who pretty much makes a guess as to which spells and how many of that spell to prepare before they head out.
So to balance it out a wizard; who by their very nature; constantly studies magic and learns how to manipulate it better by broadening their spell list and coming up with ways to use it better by learning any spell in the game without needing other sources to justify learning the spell. While the sorcerer can only learn spells in the players handbook without an outside source; wizard's spell book or a scroll.

Hi and welcome to the site. While your addition is nice, I don't yet feel that it is connected enough to the question. Could you please add a section addressing the question specifically, i.e. whether the sorcerer will be able to learn the Cure Light Wounds spell? Thanks in advance.
–
YosiJun 29 '14 at 7:35

Spells: A sorcerer casts arcane spells (the same type of spells available to bards and wizards), which are drawn primarily from the sorcerer/wizard spell list (page 192).

That alone would suggest that they can get spells from other lists.

I understand that following that it does say this:

[The sorcerer's] new spells can be common spells chosen from the sorcerer/wizard spell list (page 192), or they can be unusual spells that the sorcerer has gained some understanding of by study. For example, a sorcerer with a scroll or spellbook detailing an unusual sorcerer/wizard spell (one not on the sorcerer/wizard spell list in this book) could select that spell as one of his new spells for attaining a new level, provided that it is of the right spell level. (54)

However, that would then say that other classes cannot get spells from other books as the class does not say that it can as this one does.